Manner of constructing doob and other locks



UNTED STATES SOLOMON ANDREWS, OE PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY.

MANNER 0F CONSTRUCTING DOOR AND OTHER LOCKS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 1,977, dated February 12, 1841.

To all w71 om 2'25 may concern Be it known that I, SOLOMON ANDREWS, ofPerth Amboy, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful improvement in the manner of constructing doorand other locks, said impro-vement being applicable to every kind oflock which is intended to be opened by a. key; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full and exact description thereof.

I denominate this lock the combined snail-wheel lock, which name isgiven to it on account of one of its principal characteristics being thec-ausing of the key to carry around with it any desired number of wheelsformed of flat plates of metal, which wheels revolve upon a center pin,and are each of them perforated with a snail-like, or other suitablyformed opening, within and upon which the bit o-f the key is to act, ina manner to be presently described.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l, is a representation of a doorlock, with the cap plate, Fig. 2, removed, for the purpose of exhibitingthe-interior.

A, is the bolt, which is not to be acted upon directly by the key, butby a pendulous lever B, which works on a joint p in at B', said pinbeing its fulcrum. rlhe end B, of this lever, which is made thicker thanthe part of it under the bolt, is received within the space, or notch,C, in the bolt, which it serves to carry back and forth.

D, is one of the snail wheels; of which, in the lock from which thisdrawing was made, there are four. One of these is represented separatelyin Fig. 3; in this wheel a, is a center hole, which passes over thedrill pin Z), of the lock; c, is a snail-like eccentric, or othersuitably formed perforation, which may be alike, or they may differ ineach of the wheels. The bit of the keyv is to operate on the curve cl,d, of this perforation, and it will be manifestI that the point uponwhich it will act will be determined by the length of that part of thebit which is brought into contact with said eccentric curve.

Fig. 1i, shows the kind of key employed, e', f, g, and 7L, being fourportions of the bit varying in length from each other, and intended toact upon the curves d, d, of the wheels. The part z', serves to connectthe bit with the barrel, and there is a recess in the bush of the capplate to allow this part to turn in; without which provision the bitwould be cut oli". The respective acting parts of the bit, e, f, g, L,may be of any length within the compass of the snail-like perforation,their lengths being governed by accident, or fancy.

In order to move the bolt forward by the action of the key, the end B,of the pendulous lever Amust be received into recesses E, which areformed on each of the snail wheels; and it will be evident that thiscannottake place unless the similar recesses in each of the wheels aremade to coincide; to effect this, these recesses are not made until thekey is finished, and allowed to act by the projecting portions of itsbit upon the respective wheels by turning it around so as to carry themin the direction of the arrow, which is that for locking, or shootingthe bolt out, and in doing this the wheels will be carried to differentdistances until the last, and least projecting part of the bit isbrought into contact with its corresponding wheel. The recess E, is thenmade through all the wheels while they are confined in this position,and the key, therefore, when again turned to shoot the bolt, will alwayscause them to coincide; and as the wheels are carried around, the endo-f the pendulous lever B, will fall into them, and it will be carriedforward, and with it. the bolt A. The key is not allowed to turn anyfarther' than is necessary for shooting the bolt., and allowing the endB, of the lever to escape from the recesses E, there being a vstop pin,or projection, on the under side of the bush of the cap plate. withwhich pin, or stop, the part z', of the 'bit comes into con'- tact, andis thereby arrested; in order to remove the key, it must be turned backto its original position. Then the bolt is to be withdrawn, the key isto be turned as in locking, until the piece B, falls into the recessesE, and then on reversing the motion of the key, the bolt will be carriedback, or withdrawn, by the act-ion of the lever. The flat side of thebit of the key coming into contact with the ends e, of the snail-likeperfo-rations, causes the snail-like openings in them all to coincide asthey are turned back for the purpose of removing the key. lVhen thewheels are brought into the proper position for withdrawing the key, thelip, or tongue, f, which constitutes the end of a spring g, g, fallsinto notches L,

in place until they are again acted upon by on the edges of the wheels,and holds them o the key. This lip may be lifted from the notches by theaction of the wheel which is first moved by the key, the notch 71 inthis wheel being beveled oil, in the manner shown by the dotted lineFig. 3. The spring g, g, represented by dotted lines, is shown asattached to the fulcrum end of the lever B; this spring is chieflyintended to cause the end B, of the lever to enter the recesses E, assoon as they are brought opposite to it. Sometimes l allow a pin uponthe lever B, to enter a slot, or mortise, made through the bolt, for thepurpose of moving it back and forth; this part, however, may be arrangedin various ways. Between each of the wheels there is interposed astationary plate F, Figs. l, and 5, by which they are renderedindependent of each other in their action.

In Fig. G, I have represented my snail wheels as combined in a padlock,the hasp, or shackle, of which is a revolving ring; but they may becombined with a hasp, or shackle, of the ordinary kind. The snail wheelsGr, are similar to those already described, and are to be separated fromeach other by a plate, or by small washers. H, is the hasp, or shackle,consisting of a hoop, or ring, with a piece cut out at I. This hooprevolves in a groove in the lock, made to receive it, and is representedas when the lock is closed; when unlocked, the ring is to` be turnedaround by hand so as toallow the staple to escape at the opening I. Thenotch z', on the periphery of the snail wheels performs the oiiice ofthe end of the lever B, in the lock first described; and when the keycomes to its bearing on the respective snail perforations, the notchesin each wheel similar to 1i, coincide; and in consequence of this whenthe plates are turned around to a suilicient distance, the end y', ofthe spring catch j', enters these notches, and the catch j', is therebywithdrawn from the notch in the ring H, within which it is representedas being contained; and the ring can then be turned around until thecatch y'2, arrests it by coming into contact with the oifset la, in thering, which brings the opening I, without the body of the lock. Thespring Z, performs the oiiice of that marked g, g, in the door lock, itslower end entering notches m, in the snail plates when they are turnedback, and thus arresting and holding them in the proper place. While theplates are revolving, this spring bears upon their edges, and keeps themfrom any accidental or irregular mot-ion. Then the plates, or wheels,are turned back, and the key removed, the hoop H, may be turned around,and the catch jg, will fall into its notch, as shown in the drawing.

I have sometimes used a device by means of which the hoop H, is made torevolve by the action of the key, but this, of course, renders theaction somewhat more complex. I have also variously arranged thesprings, catches, and other auxiliary parts; a thing which can readilybe done by any clever workman, without varying the general principleupon which said lock operates. I do not intend, therefore, by anythingcontained in the foregoing description to limit myself to the precisemanner which I have exhibited, of arranging these parts, but to varythem as I may think proper, while I attain the same end by analogousmeans.

Having thus, fully set forth the nature of my improvements in mycombination snailwheel lock, and shown the manner in which the same arecarried into operation, what I claim therein as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, are

The use and employment of said combined Wheels, having in them openingssimilar to those herein described, which wheels are to be operated uponWithin the snail formed, o-r other openings, and carried around todifferent distances by projectingpieces on the bit of the key, until` anotch, or cavity, on the periphery of each wheel is brought to coincidewith those on theother wheels with which it is combined, so as to admit`of the opening of thelock, in the manner, or upon the principle, aboveset forth.

I will here remark that such is the action of this lock, that there isnot any friction or wearing of'the key, or of the parts of the wheelswith which it is brought into contact, as its office is merely to carrythe wheels around.

SOLOMON ANDREWS.

lVi tnesses Trios. P. Jonas, W. THOMPSON.

